The question
by hye-kyo
Summary: Naruto asked. Sai asked. And finally Sakura asked. Kakashi might as well answer for practicality's sake. At least he won't be answerable to anyone after that. Oneshot. Kakasaku.


**The question**

**By hye-kyo**

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**Disclaimer: **Nope Naruto isn't mine…

**Author's Notes: **Just a little something I thought while trying not to fall asleep at work. That's really bad of me, isn't it? Anyway, hope you like it. Read and review!

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He was touching Sakura's hair slowly when Naruto asked, "Sensei, what are you doing?"

Sakura immediately turned to him, his hands slinking to rest on his lap, clearly a way of saying he was not doing anything. He smiled slightly, and then seeing the skeptical look on Sakura's face he forced an innocent grin and went back to reading Icha Icha.

Sakura gave him a pout and turned back to finishing her paperwork. Perhaps he could go unnoticed this time again and slowly, warily, reached out to skim the ends of her hair with his fingers. He smiled, usually Sakura would notice any movement, any brush, even the lightest ones, but as she poured her concentration on her paperwork, which Tsunade told her to do with an accompanying threat, and considering her two-week lack of sleep, she was numb. And he took advantage.

His fingers bent the soft strand, caressed and almost brought it to his masked lips when this time Sai asked, "What are you doing Sensei?"

He shook his head innocently, looked away and turned to move back further, hiding him from their view. Sakura had the audacity to turn to him fully, gave him a frown and as he backed closer to the tree with Sakura sitting just a foot away in front of him, she asked, "What are you doing?"

"Hmm…" he flipped a page and turned to slightly regard her, "Reading..."

Sai narrowed his eyes but nevertheless resumed drawing. To him it seemed like Sai was sketching Naruto who was slumped on the ground reading some scrolls. He was tearing at his hair every five minutes or so. It seemed like he was having a hard time.

The Copy-nin smiled to himself, breathed in Sakura's scent and resumed staring at the open portion of his Icha Icha. It was one of those rare days when they would just gather at the training grounds and do nothing. Sakura had turned around again, hunched on her papers and was mumbling furiously to herself. He felt the urge to kiss her exposed nape.

"Kakashi," she suddenly mouthed, her voice low. How was it that she could get away with calling him just by her first name when he insisted that Sai and Naruto call him sensei? He idly pondered as he watched the soft curve of her back arch to turn towards him.

"Hn?" he arched a brow, watching him from the corner of one exposed eye.

"Could I rest against you for a while?" she asked and doing so even before he could respond. She had her head on his lap just as soon and closed her eyes. "My head hurts already."

"Perhaps you should go home now and take a rest," he suggested though deep inside he was hoping that she would not consider his suggestion. How long was it? Ah, he told himself, since she came to his door one night after a mission crying. He had been badly injured and she rushed from the hospital to his side, crying, cursing and scolding him from being so lax. Had he not tried to be the superhero he would not have suffered so much damage and had he done first aid before trying to hunt down the enemies he could have avoided it from getting worse and could he, please, just listen to her this once? And she kept silent as she sobbed on his chest. She stayed that night, holding his hand as he drifted off to sleep.

And after that she made it an SOP to give him a thorough check-up after every mission. Soon she was bringing him home-cooked meals and since he was not the kind to pass up an opportunity to have a free meal he lazily opened the door for her each time and listened to her chat about her days in the hospital.

And soon he was visiting her in the hospital grounds, waiting on her for dinner and lunch and training with her on spare time. There were occasional touches, kisses on the cheeks and hugs. Soon he knew he had fallen into a habit of seeing her and being with her such that when she was sent to a long-term mission in the Water Country with the duration unspecified he felt like he was on withdrawal. He was brought to the hospital for stomach cramps and indigestion, which came and went and came and went. He only became better when she came back, finally. So that was when he knew something was up, something unnamed, and something that was just waiting to be noticed. And he wondered if she had noticed it already too.

"Rub my temples like this," she motioned with her hands and he mimicked her, applying pressure on her temples. He sensed Sai and Naruto staring at them. He ignored them, brushed his fingers on her cheeks just as they traveled back up to continue massaging her temples.

"Like this?" he asked a smile on his masked face.

"Hmm…" and she closed her eyes.

"Sakura," he murmured, his other hand cupping her face.

"Yes?"

He thought for a while. Perhaps it was high time he asked about it. They were going in circles for a long time now. It was time he catch her and end this stupid merry go-round. He brushed a fingertip down her nose and down further until he touched her slightly gaped lips.

"Kakashi?" she asked exasperatedly, opening an eye.

He felt the hitch in her breath when he traced the line of her mouth, down her chin, down the span of her throat and down further until she caught his hand and gave him a look.

"What are you doing?"

"Hn…" he shrugged, "What do you think?"

She laughed dryly, "If I'm not too tired I think I would have punched you."

"Ow," he feigned, "Well it's good the Godaime is harassing you then."

She cursed and slowly sat up, her legs stretched in front of her and her waist turned at a sharp angle to face him. If he would reach out he could easily press her to him. "Kakashi," she started, her tone getting serious, "I think there's something new that we should probably try." There was a tinge of red in her cheeks and just by that he knew what she was referring to. "What do you think?"

She beat him into asking. Well, they say women mature faster. He looked at her for a long time, probably the longest time he'd ever looked at her and realized that he had been doing the same thing over and over again for the past thirty five years of his life. He recounted all his past missions and thought that since he had been doing back-to-back class A missions for the longest time perhaps he was entitled to experiencing something new. Well at least the Godaime could grant him that.

The tentative look in her eyes was slowly replaced with excitement as she realized him thinking it over in his head and then as his silence grew her excitement faded into regret for saying something stupid, to shame and finally to defeat. She slowly stood up but was hindered by the arm which suddenly hooked itself around her waist. She met his gaze.

He smiled, the same eye crease he showed which meant he was clearly amused. He lifted her up slowly, depositing her in his lap as her mouth formed an o, her hands suddenly pressing against his chest for support. She pouted and beckoned to the two shinobi behind her and pouted again, this time with a matching playful pat on his chest which clearly drove the point across. They were not alone.

He shrugged and smiled, leaned closer to her and saw that Naruto and Sai were now openly staring. It was not everyday that you get to see Hatake Kakashi, the famous Copy Nin of Konoha, getting intimate with a person, and with Sakura nonetheless. He slipped both arms around her, drove her closer while pulling her closer as he leaned against the tree and kissed the side of her neck.

"Does this mean…" she faltered, hesitant, not wanting to hasten her generalizations. She returned the hug, pooling her arms around his shoulders as she buried her face in his neck. "Kakashi…"

He drew circles on her back lazily, even unwittingly, as he continued kissing the side of her neck, pointedly ignoring Naruto's and Sai's whispers, shock, staring. He smiled to himself, brought his mouth to kiss the lobe of her ear to her cheeks, her nose and stopped when she tilted her face to ask him again.

"So?" she posed, a bit impatient, remembering that he still had not answered. She gestured to the two of them, asked wordlessly if this arrangement was okay and that is it possible for him to answer now? An almost inaudible sigh escaped her lips hadn't he closed the distance between them.

He pulled her closer as his mouth came into contact with hers for the very first time and he knew that this first he would always remember and that there would be many other firsts with her soon so he'd better do some cleaning up of his memory to have a place for their storage. He laughed at himself inwardly for such metaphor and deepened the kiss.

"Kakashi," she murmured softly against his mouth as she pulled back to reprimand him.

Right, he remembered, he needed to answer first. He grinned sheepishly. He glanced at the two shinobi and saw Sai urging Naruto to leave. Sai was a fast-learner and so far, his books on manners, etiquette and culture had been really helpful. Perhaps Kakashi should ask him to lend Naruto some materials for clearly he doesn't know what privacy meant. But oh well, the training ground is not a private place to begin with. He sighed and earned a pinch from Sakura, forcing him to focus back on her.

He pouted, a little reminiscent of the pout Naruto does and she couldn't help but laugh. She let out a soft giggle and adjusted her position, now having either leg on his both sides. "So?"

"Well," he cleared his throat just as Sai managed to drag Naruto out of sight. Perhaps they were hiding behind the bush or somewhere but well, it was a lot better than openly seeing them. He turned back to her, skimmed his right hand from her nape down to the small of her back and smiled smugly when she shivered.

"Well?" she asked annoyed at his smugness. She pinched him again.

He laughed. She was getting really impatient. Oh well, "I guess there's no harm in trying something new eh?" he asked slowly, his mouth kissing the underside of her chin with the mask still on.

"Really?" she softly gasped. She seemed to relax, as the tension due to waiting was replaced with relief.

"Right. Besides," he said, "This arrangement's practical."

"Practical?"

He looked up at her, his fingers on the zipper of her blouse, "Meaning I could do whatever I want to without being asked what I am doing."

That night he went home with a broken jaw, and with Sakura laughing beside him. Well at least he wasn't going to bed alone.

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**A/n: **Please comment.

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